Election Governance in Bangladesh
"Election Governance in Bangladesh"
1.
Abstract
The paper has evaluated the election governance in Bangladesh. The paper is a descriptive and qualitative in nature and mainly based on secondary literature. For doing this study, conceptual clarification has been done first. Bangladesh since its independence has gone through several changes in its electoral systems as it started as a parliamentary form of government, then switched over to presidential system and again shifted back to parliamentary system in 1991. After independence, there have been 11 national elections under different electoral systems and democracy has been under continuous threat from changing patterns of the elections. Bangladesh election commission is the main authority to govern election system in our country. Then, in order to understand election governance process, Bangladeshi elections has been evaluated by analyzing all the national elections held since independence. Apart from these, major factors and challenges of holding a free, fair and credible election in Bangladesh have been examined. The meaning of “election governance” is often equated with “electoral administration”. electoral governance is conceived as merely a mechanism for establishing regulatory bodies and rules. Our prime goal is to show readers that electoral governance is a process that starts with the enactment of legislation, continues with administrative enforcement and judicial response, and concludes when the process returns to the beginning, either through judicial interpretation or recommendation by a legislative body.
Keywords: Election, governance, democracy, electoral governance, election commission.
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Serial No. |
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Name of the chapter |
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Abstract |
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Chapter: One |
Introduction |
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1.1. |
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Introduction |
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1.2. |
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Objectives
of the study |
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Chapter: Two |
Methodology |
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2.1. |
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Methodology
of the study |
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2.2 |
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Sampling
and Analysis Plan |
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Chapter: Three |
Literature Review |
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3.1. |
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Literature Review |
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Chapter: Fourth |
Legal Framework |
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4.1 |
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Legal
Framework of Electoral Process in Bangladesh |
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Chapter: Five |
Findings
of the Study |
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5.1. |
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Election
System in Bangladesh: Electoral system and democratic governance in
Bangladesh |
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5.2 |
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Rules
and regulations of the Electoral System in Bangladesh |
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5.3 |
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Election Commission in Bangladesh |
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5.4 |
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Composition of Election Commission
in Bangladesh |
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5.5 |
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Functions of election commission |
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5.6 |
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Code of conduct for political
parties and candidates |
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5.7 |
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Complaints and appeals |
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5.8 |
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Analysis of past elections in
Bangladesh |
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5.9 |
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How Far the Elements of the Free,
Fair and Credible: Election have been Ensured in Bangladesh? |
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5.10 |
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Challenges of Free, Fair and
Credible Election in Bangladesh |
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Chapter: Six |
Conclusion and Recommendation |
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6.1 |
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Recommendations |
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6.2 |
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Conclusion |
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References |
Chapter-one
Introduction
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Chapter
summary This chapter depicts the background of the research, why this issue has been taken as a research topic. What has the significance of the issue is, illustration and statement on the issue also been discussed here. Research objective and research question have been given in this chapter. |
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1.1
Introduction
The election is one of the key components in ensuring democracy because they “enhance citizens’ participation in governance, ensure government accountability and encourage political competition”. The free, fair and credible election is one of the basic and crucial prerequisites and elements of democratic government and governance. The election would be credible, when rules, regulations and laws governing the electoral process will be followed by and ultimately, the credible candidate will be freely and fairly elected to represent the electorate. Free and fair elections have major four components. These are: Independent political parties will compete in electoral process in freely and fairly, Individual must be free to participate in politics and election process based on their own choice, Election process would be free and fair so that every adult franchise can apply their voting right equally with equal weight and Finally, outcome of the election or counting vote would be accurate and legitimate. Thus, when all the four variables mentioned above will be available in the process, conduct and outcome of an election, that election could be considered to be free, fair and credible. Election governance is a crucial variable in securing the credibility of elections in emerging democracies. It conceptualizes electoral governance as a set of related activities that involves rule making, rule application, and rule adjudication. It identifies the provision of procedural certainty to secure the substantive uncertainty of democratic elections as the principal task of electoral governance. It argues that electoral governance, while socially and institutionally embedded, matters most during the indeterminate conditions that typically attend democratization.
1.2. Objectives
of the study
The
Subordinate objectives of this study are -
· To know the election system in Bangladesh.
· To know the background of Bangladesh election system
· To gather real knowledge about Legal Framework of the Electoral Process in Bangladesh
· To know the Composition of Election Commission in Bangladesh
· To know the Functions of the election commission
· To Analysis the past elections in Bangladesh
· To gather knowledge about Challenges of election governance in Bangladesh
Chapter - two
Methodology
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Chapter
summary This chapter delineates primary and secondary data
collection procedure .survey, questionnaire, interview content analysis
discuss briefly here. Sample frame also has been given in this chapter. |
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2.1
Methodology
of the study
This is a qualitative analysis mainly based on the sources of
data. To make this report meaningful and
presentable, we collect secondary data from internet,
different journals, regular reporting articles, book, newspaper etc.
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Tools |
Who
and What |
Why |
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Qualitative tool |
Content analysis |
As part of the study, brief review of
available literature and government policies, articles, books, research
papers and other materials related to the research issues will be reviewed |
To know the different initiatives and
previous study. |
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KII |
Government officers, local
representatives, and members of professional group’s local elite. |
To gather a detail and deep picture of
situation, total KII will be conducted. With the intention to understand the
realistic situation of research areas |
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FGD
(FGD participants will include case study) |
Teachers, religious leaders, worker,
day laborer etc. |
To gather in-depth scenario |
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Quantitative tool |
Interview (survey) |
100 voters of focus unions |
To portraying the gross scenario of
the target areas and issues |
2.2 Sampling and Analysis Plan:
A totality of 100 respondents will be selected from
the inhabitants of two specific Union Parishads (Trishal and Osmanpur Union) of
Trishal Upazilla and Kuliarchar Upazila. Collected data will be organized
characteristically and the coding activities will be done manually. Prepared
data will be analyzed statistically with data analysis software ‘MS Excel’ and
‘Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)’ and will be presented in the
report accordingly. In the whole research process, ethical ground and
confidentiality will be maintained strictly.
Chapter-three
Literature Review
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Chapter
summary This chapter attempts has been taken to develop a
literature review for analyzing the research issue said in the earlier . |
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3.1.
Literature
Review
The term Election governance is composed of two keywords-
election and governance. Before defining election governance it is necessary to
define election and governance.
An election is a formal group discussion making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislatures, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary association and cooperation.
Collins Dictionary
defined, an election is a process
in which people vote to choose a person or group of people to hold an official
position.
Business Dictionary
defined, the act of a party casting votes to elect an individual for some type of position. Elections may involve a public or private vote depending on
the position. Most positions in the local, state, and federal governments are
voting on in some type of election.
Governance is the process of decision making and the process
through which decisions are taken and implemented or not implemented.
World Bank: Governance is defined “as the manner in which power is
exercised in the management of a country's economic and social resources for
development. Good governance is synonymous with sound development management.”
Election governance involves an ongoing cycle of stakeholders
acting at different stages of the electoral process. Electoral governance is
thus characterized by the relation between the rules, the actors and the
procedures that are performed during the electoral process for its organization as well as for the
resolution of disputes.
An election system is
a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and
how their results are determined. Political election systems are organized by governments, while
non-political elections may take place in business, non-profit organizations and informal
organizations.
Election systems consist of sets of rules that
govern all aspects of the voting process: when elections occur, who is allowed to
vote, who can stand as a candidate, how
ballots are marked and cast, how the ballots are counted (electoral
method), limits on campaign spending, and other factors that can
affect the outcome.
Election systems are defined by constitutions
and electoral laws, are typically conducted by election commissions and can use multiple
types of elections for different offices.
Some electoral
systems elect a single winner to a unique position, such as prime minister,
president or governor, while others elect multiple winners, such as members of
parliament or boards of directors.
Types of the election system
There are a large number of variations in electoral systems, but the most common systems are first-past-the-post voting, the two-round (runoff) the system, representation and ranked or preferential voting. Some electoral systems, such as mixed systems, attempt to combine the benefits of non-proportional and proportional systems. Plurality system is an election system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate and the candidate who polls the most among their counterparts is elected. In a system based on single-member districts, it may be called first-past-the-post (FPTP),
Majoritarian systems is a the system in which candidates have to receive a majority of the votes to be
elected, although in some cases only a plurality is required in the last round
of counting if no candidate can achieve a majority. There are two main forms of
majoritarian systems, one using a single round of ranked voting and the other using two
or more rounds. Both are primarily used for single-member constituencies.
Proportional representation is the
most widely used electoral system for national legislatures, with the
parliaments of over eighty countries elected by various forms of the
system. Party-list proportional
representation is the single most common electoral system and
is used by 80 countries, and involves voters voting for a list of candidates
proposed by a party. In closed list systems voters do not have any
influence over the candidates put forward by the party, but in open list systems
voters are able to both vote for the party list and influence the order in
which candidates will be assigned seats. In some countries, notably Israel and
the Netherlands,
elections are carried out using 'pure' proportional representation, with the
votes tallied on a national level before assigning seats to parties. However,
in most cases several multi-member constituencies are used rather than a single
nationwide constituency, giving an element of geographical representation.
Mixed
systems, In several countries, mixed systems are used to elect the
legislature. These include parallel
voting and mixed-member proportional
representation.
In parallel voting systems, which are used in 20
countries, there are two methods by which members of a legislature are
elected; part of the membership is elected by a plurality or majority vote in
single-member constituencies and the other part by proportional representation.
The results of the constituency vote has no effect on the outcome of the
proportional vote.
Mixed-member proportional representation, in use in eight
countries, also sees the membership of the legislature elected by constituency
and proportional methods, but the results of the proportional vote are adjusted
to balance the seats won in the constituency vote in order to ensure that
parties have a number of seats proportional to their vote share. This may
result in overhang seats where parties win more seats in the constituency
system than they would be entitled to base on their vote share. Variations of
this include the Additional Member System and Alternative Vote Plus, in which voters
rank candidates, and the other from multi-member constituencies elected on a
proportional party-list basis. A form of mixed-member proportional
representation, Scorpio, was used in Italy from 1993 until 2006.
Indirect elections, some
elections feature an indirect electoral system, whereby there is either no
popular vote or the popular vote is only one stage of the election; in these
systems, the final vote is usually taken by an electoral
college. In several countries, such as Mauritius or Trinidad and Tobago, the post of President is
elected by the legislature. In others like India, the vote is taken
by an electoral college consisting of the national legislature and state
legislatures. In the United States, the president is indirectly
elected using a two-stage process; a popular vote in each state elects members
to the Electoral College that
in turn elects the President. This can result in a situation where a candidate
who receives the most votes nationwide does not win the Electoral College vote,
as most recently happened in 2000 and 2016. (encyclopedia,
2019).
Chapter-Fourth
Legal Framework
Chapter summary This chapter attempts has been taken to develop a Legal Framework for analyzing the research issue said in the earlier . |
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4.1 Legal Framework of Electoral Process in Bangladesh
Election commission of Bangladesh is a constitutional body. The structure and functions of the election commission (EC) are enumerated in part vii (Articles 118-126) of the constitution of Bangladesh and some other laws. The key legal instruments for the conduct of the elections are:
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Constitution
of Bangladesh (COB, 1972 up to 15th amendment 2011)
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Representation
of people order (RPO, 1972, amended up to 2008)
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Code
of conduct for political parties and candidates (2008)
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Delimitation
of constituencies’ ordinance (1976)
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Election
roll ordinance (2007)
Chapter-five
Empirical
finding
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Chapter summary Qualitative and quantitative data are presented here. Data
of the study as well as analysis of the survey data and evidence, interview
of the stakeholder are given here; this chapter illustrated through the
qualitative data presentation of the view |
5.1 Composition of Election Commission
in Bangladesh
Article 118 of the constitution provides for the establishment of an EC in Bangladesh. The EC consists of a chief election commissioner and not more than four election commissioners. The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners is conducted by the president [Art. 118(1)]. Under the constitution, the term of office of any election commissioner is five years from the date on which he enters upon office. A person who has held office as chief election commissioner and other election commissioners are not eligible for appointment in the other service of the republic [Art. 118(3)]. A commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the ground of gross misconduct like judges of Supreme Court as per Art. 118(5) of the Bangladesh constitution.
The electoral process for local government institutions, the parliament, and the president are constitutionally guaranteed by the constitution of Bangladesh (Art. 119). In addition, the president will provide necessary staffs as deem to assist the election commission (Art. 120). For the preparation of electoral roll Article 121 of cob, provides- "There shall be one electoral roll for each constituency for the purposes of elections to parliament, and no special electoral roll shall be prepared so as to classify electors according to religion, race caste or sex”. The EC has a permanent secretariat as per the election commission secretariat act, 2009, headed by a secretary to administer the electoral process and is represented across Bangladesh. The secretariat is in Dhaka and has an electoral training institute, field offices at the regional, district and Thana level. There are 10 regional election offices and 83 district election offices in the 64 districts each headed by a district election officer and 481 Upazila election offices. To deal the nominations, election administration and results in the process each constituency has a returning officer (RO). The RPO provides that ROS are appointed by the EC. There are also assistant returning officers (ARO) to support the process
5.2 Functions
of election commission
According to Article 118 (4) and 126 of the constitution and Article 4 and 5 of the representation of the people’s order [24], the EC is an independent constitutional body that exercises of its functions relating to elections. The EC is authorized any of its members to exercise and perform or any of its powers and functions under the election law. Thus, the EC has the power to perform such functions for the purpose of election. As per section 5(2) of RPO and Article 126 of cob, “all executive authorities of the government shall assist the commission in the performance of its functions, and for this purpose, the president may, after consultation with the commission, issue such directions as he may consider necessary”
ü Delimitation of constituencies for the purpose of elections of
Member of Parliament;
- Conducting elections for the office of Honorable President, Members of Parliament, different
- Local Government Bodies and electoral
processes prescribed by any other law;
- Preparing and updating electoral rolls for the purpose of all
national and local level elections;
- Preparation and distribution of National Identity Cards (NID);
- Constituting Electoral Tribunal and disposal of election disputes
in accordance with law;
- Registration of political parties and allocation and reservation
of symbols for registered political parties and candidates;
- Correspondence and coordination with different international and
regional organizations, and seminars and activities relating to formulation of
contracts; and
- Preparation of proposals for formulating laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines with regard to elections and the Election Commission.
5.3 Code of conduct for political parties and candidates
Under the authority of Article 91b
of the RPO the EC promulgated a code of conduct for political parties and
candidates for the parliamentary elections 2008. The code had the status of a
law, and persons could be punished and/or disqualified for violating it. The
code provided for a more restricted, managed, framework for the campaign. Basic
rights and freedoms were provided for, but various limitations were also
evident as compared to previous elections. It was argued that these were
designed to address problems experienced during past campaigns-particularly
“money and muscle” of the parties and generally there was positive feedback in
terms of what many characterized as a more orderly and acceptable election campaign.
The code of conduct was a laudable attempt to establish the dos and don’ts for
the campaign and create a level playing field. However, it seemed from reports
that the election commission lacked the capacity or time to fully enforce the
code, preferring instead to issue warnings on occasions. Many aspects of it
were respected and it appeared it was well understood by parties and candidates.
5.4 Complaints and appeals
Procedures and systems for
complaints and appeals varied depending upon the stage of the electoral
process. For instance:
ü Appeals during the voter registration
phase were to be made directly to the registration officer;
ü Appeals against candidate nomination
were to be made to the RO with a further appeal to the EC;
ü The EC’s decision was final
according to the RPO;
ü Complaints regarding campaign violations
were determined by an election enquiry committee
ü Appeals against a decision of an EEC
were made to the EC, which had final authority;
ü A petition against the result of the election was to be made to the high court;
ü For the Election Day, EEC’s were
active as were mobile teams of judicial magistrates, which could hear and/or
investigate complaints and could conduct summary trials. In addition, mobile teams
of executive magistrates for law and order issues were also provided for;
ü For a complaint against the process in a polling booth to be valid, it had to be made to the relevant presiding the officer in the first instance.
5.5 Analysis of past elections in
Bangladesh
After the country's
liberation in 1971, seven out of 11 national elections were held under democratic
practice. Other three elections were held under autocratic regimes. The
elections under democratic regimes were held under different structures of
electoral systems and most of them were criticized for lacking many factors of
good democratic governance.
In January 1972 Bangladesh elected an interim
government based on the outcome of 1970 elections in undivided Pakistan with
Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury as President and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
as Prime Minister of the new born country. Released
from Pakistani prison, Bangabandhu returned to his independent homeland on
January 10, 1972, amid a tumultuous emotional welcome by his fellow countrymen.
He took office as the Prime Minister and formed the new constitution of
Bangladesh, which provided for a strong executive prime minister, a largely
ceremonial presidency, an independent judiciary and a unicameral legislature on
a modified Westminster model with emphasis on protecting the sovereignty of the
nation. The constitution also adopted nationalism, secularism, socialism and
democracy as the four state principles.
The election of March 1973, a start of democratic practice in
Bangladesh, was the first to be held under the 1972 constitution enabling
people to elect their government. The election was held under the government
and the same party retained power, but in that vote no party challenged the
popularity, charisma and acceptance of Sheikh Mujib among Bangladeshis. The
election was a free, fair and credible one in a sense though without
competition. In spite of his sheer willingness to establish
democratic practices, Sheikh Mujib was forced to establish a one-party system,
the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL) in December 1974
confronting economic deterioration and growing civil disorder which required to
be handled with strong measures.
Though BAKSAL is known as one of the greatest mistakes of
Bangabandhu, it is still a matter of debate if BAKSAL was an effective measure
to handle the intolerable insurgencies, affecting the economy negatively,
throughout the new born Bangladesh. After Mujib's assassination,
the power of the government rotated between hands and finally settled in the
hands of the then Chief of Army Staff General Ziaur Rahman. He declared martial
law and became the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). Later Zia achieved a
5-year term as President in an election in June 1978, but through several
restrictions he kept other political parties away from the election in an
undemocratic-process.
Zia removed the restrictions of martial law as
February 1979 election was held with 30 parties' participation known as Zia's
transformation of Bangladeshi government from the MLA to a democratic, elected
and constitutional one. He formed
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which has been led by his widow Khaleda Zia
since his death. Though his autocratic practices and working as head of state
during the election influenced its outcome and was far away from the democratic
governance. Zia's regime ended with his assassination in May 1981 and after
some instability, Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen H M Ershad came into power through
a bloodless coup in March-1982.
Ershad, controversially the most autocratic
leader Bangladesh ever had, suspended the constitution and declared martial
law. He assumed the presidency retaining his position as army chief and chief
martial law administrator. Later he formed Jatiya Party and moved from martial
law to party based electoral system. Despite BNP's boycott, the third national
election was held in May 1986 and Jatiya Party came into power by voting fraud.
Facing huge protests
and nationwide strikes for arresting the opposition activists pushed Ershad to
declare state of emergency. Dissolving the parliament, he scheduled national
elections on March 1988. Major opposition parties boycotted the election
feeling the government was incapable of holding a fair election. The 1988
national election brought Ershad back into power in absence of competition and
recorded another autocratic election rejecting the idea of democratic
governance. Afterwards political scenario got very vulnerable as frequent
strikes, campus protests, public rallies and violent clashes with law enforcers
became a common scene and eventually Ershad stepped down in December 1990. According
to the proposed framework of all political parties, an interim government was
formed and after only two months, country's first democratic election after
1973 election was held on February 1991 and BNP assumed the power. The
parliamentary system was restored as the governing power returned to the prime
minister. The interim government was successful to ensure free, fair and
credible election.
But the BNP tried to regain power after their usual 5-year term through a
rigged election in February 1996. Despite their landslide victory, BNP could
not keep hold of power under continuous political turmoil. A neutral caretaker
government was formed under the leadership of Chief Advisor and parliamentary
election was held in June 1996, won by the Awami League leading Sheikh Hasina
to become the prime minister. Sheikh Hasina government successfully concluded 5
year term though BNP kept walking out of parliamentary sessions repeatedly
alleging police and AL activists to be involved in large scale harassment and
jailing of opposition activists.
Considering opposition demand, a caretaker government was formed and AL stepped
down from the power. In October 2001, BNP led alliance came into power with
landslide victory and formed government. BNP completed their 5 year term but
tried to form a biased caretaker government approaching national election by
the end of 2006. Huge protests were staged by AL and bloody clashes flooded the
streets leading formation of a new caretaker government with Fakhruddin Ahmed,
former World Bank economist and Bangladesh Bank Governor, as Chief
Advisor.
This caretaker government was to hold election within three months but being
controlled by the army, they stayed in power for two years eyeing on
restructuring the political parties with new leadership. They charged both
Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia with several corruption charges and arrested
almost 200,000 political activists. The caretaker government and army tried to
bring in two new parties under the leadership of Dr Muhammad Younus and Ferdous
Qureishi and planned on creating puppet government and eventually capturing the
power as Zia and Ershad. But under huge protest of the people along with
international pressure and both local and international economic depression,
they had to move away and national election was held on December 2008 and AL
came into power. This caretaker government created distrust among the political
parties regarding caretaker government to be an option for holding free, fair
and credible election.
In January 2014, AL regained power for consecutively the second term in the
face of huge protest from BNP. Despite BNP-led alliance's boycott, the election
was held under the AL government eliminating the idea of the caretaker
government. BNP tried to pressurize the government through violent strikes but
failed to create any force on the government. 11th General elections were
held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect
members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The
result was a landslide victory for the Awami League led
by Sheikh Hasina
5.6 How Far the Elements of the Free,
Fair and Credible: Election have been Ensured in Bangladesh?
From review and analysis of past elections in Bangladesh we found that some elements exist but some are absent. One of the elements of free and fair elections is an enabling legislative framework. From the foregoing discussion, we have found several laws and constitutional provisions for holding free, fair and credible elections in Bangladesh. In theory, the legal framework of the electoral process in Bangladesh is very strong and election commission is an independent institution. However, in practice, it has been found that elections held under political government are not sound and credible enough. Most of the elections held under ruling/ political government are manipulated, less competitive and controversial. On the hand, four elections held under nonpolitical and interim caretaker government were more competitive, fair and credible, and accepted by national and international election observers and media. Universal adult franchise and direct and secret voting system are two other elements of free and fair elections. In Bangladesh, the electoral process followed by the direct and secret voting system.
However, equal voting rights are not always ensured especially when elections held under the political or ruling government as some major political parties were boycotted the elections. Even, many voters were deprived to apply their voting rights as their votes were cast by muscles men before they entered the election booth. Independence of EC is another criterion of the free and fair election.
In theory, the EC of Bangladesh is very
independent as constitution and RPO. However, in practice, it has been noticed
that the EC is not free and fair enough under the ruling government from the independence
of Bangladesh. Even, some local government elections the EC including some
political parties demanded army deployment to the government so that election
can be held under the sound law and order situation. The deployment of the army
also needed to protect and ensure the security of voters. But the government
did not supply the army and a lot of incidence of violence and firings happened
in the city corporation elections in Bangladesh.
Therefore, another element of free
and fair election is the security of voters must be ensured before and after
the election has been violated severely. The impartial and neutral practice of
election administration is another important feature of free and fair
elections. In Bangladesh, though legal instruments of the electoral process are
very strong to deal fairly as an institute but in practice, the EC and election
administration is not neutral and independent enough and dominated by the government.
Besides these, a competitive election among all parties and impartiality of
acting government are not ensured except four elections held under CTG in 1991,
1996, 2001 and 2008.
Access to media and election observers
in the election process; and free speech and association are two other very
vital components of free, fair and credible elections. In Bangladesh, these two
elements visible strongly but when elections held under ruling government, opposition
political parties have been claiming for manipulation and election engineering
against the government and election administration since independence. Low
trust or lack of trust among political parties is one of the vital problems in
Bangladesh. As a result, lack of reliability in holding elections under ruling
government and claim and blame game is going on from the very beginning of independent
Bangladesh.
5.7 Challenges of Free, Fair and Credible Election in Bangladesh
What are the challenges of free, fair and credible elections
in Bangladesh has been evaluated based on the analysis of past elections.
Role of EC
The role of the election commission (EC) is the most crucial in ensuring free, fair and credible election in a country. However, the role of the EC depends on the extent of independence as an institution. In Bangladesh, the EC is a constitutional body and completely independent. Therefore, the EC of Bangladesh is independent in theory but in practice, it has been facing numerous challenges since the independence of Bangladesh. To ensure the security of the electoral stakeholders such as voters, candidates, poll workers, media and the election observers and to maintain law and order the EC has to depend on government agencies and security providers.
Role of government
In the context Bangladesh, the role of the government is the most influential which has been proved by the previous discussion. Without fair and neutral dealing of government, no election can be free and fair as everything is controlled by the government in Bangladesh. However, the government has many challenges. First, every incumbent government has failed to attract opposition political parties to compete for elections. Therefore, most of the elections held under ruling or elected government were not competitive, fair and out of controversy. Another big challenge of elected government is party loyal leaders and nominated candidates do overwhelming activities before and after elections. Thus, the election atmosphere has hampered and violates the environment of a free, fair and credible election.
Role of political parties
The role of political parties is very crucial to ensure a free, fair and credible election in a country. However, in Bangladesh confrontational politics and lack of trust among political parties are great problems which are great hindrances to ensure free and fair election. Blame and claim to each other are a culture of politics in Bangladesh which creates a chaotic situation and decorates law and order. As a result, level playing field and sound atmosphere for holding free, fair and credible elections are violated in Bangladesh from its journey as an independent state [28]. Besides, the free and fair election is hampered by the political parties by money and muscles.
5.8 Role of the nonparty caretaker government
In the context of Bangladesh, it has been found in the analysis of previous elections that nonparty caretaker government is very effective to hold election freely and fairly. From 1991 to 2014 four elections were held under the caretaker government in Bangladesh which were more competitive, free, fair and credible and appreciated by the national and International community. However, the loser party or allies did not accept those elections happily and claimed that those elections were manipulated by the Election Administration and CTG in favor of winner party or allies. Therefore, a non-party caretaker government is the best and natural for an independent EC.
Chapter-Six
Conclusion and Recommendation
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Chapter
summary According to data analysis, under the umbrella of research objective and research questions finding have been drawn in this chapter. With this attempt, the related recommendation has been given in line with the finding and analysis for Election Governance in Bangladesh. |
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Throughout the discussion, it has been found that democratic governance depends firstly on free, fair and competitive elections but beside these, many other factors related to this. Moreover, a free and fair election also depends on many other auxiliary actors and factors. If we ensure the following measures, it is possible to ensure free, fair election in our country as well as it is easy to combat with the above challenges.
- The neutral and impartial functions of the EC,
- The incumbent government, political parties, media, law enforcing agencies
- Accurate voter list,
- Before and after the security of electorates to ensure equal voting rights
- And finally accurate vote counting.
- Strong monitoring power of EC is also responsible for unfair and nontransparent elections.
- Independent court of EC in Bangladesh to settle disputes and complaints.
6.2 Conclusion
A free, fair and
credible election in a democracy requires an electoral system creating level
playing field for all political parties while promoting people's participation
in the polls. A free and
fair election is a basic requirement of democratic governance. However, if the
election is not conducted in a competitive and inclusive manner, the government
loses the legitimacy and confidence of citizens that lead to the disparity and
civil disorder in society. Therefore, a sound democracy needs free, fair and
credible elections and active parliament where both position and opposition will
play a fair role to reflect the will of the general people. In this study, it
has been found that most of the elections held in Bangladesh are defective and
not free, fair and credible. Though the elections held under caretaker
government were accepted by all and comparatively fair, however, the provision
of the caretaker government also abolished by the fifteen amendment of
Bangladesh Constitution. Most of the criteria of free, fair and credible
election mentioned above have not been fulfilled in the last election in Bangladesh.
In this study, it has also been proved that mere the role of EC is not enough
for holding a free, fair and credible election in Bangladesh. Though several
provisions of the constitution and election-related laws exist in Bangladesh
but in practice the role of incumbent government is above all. Therefore, the
neutral role of government and EC for holding free, fair and credible elections
is facing a great challenge in Bangladesh from its inception. However, we will
hope that Bangladesh can combat to all challenges to ensure free and fair
election.
· Mollah AH (2016) Free, Fair and Credible Election and Democratic Governance in Bangladesh: How Far the Dream of Success? Review Pub Administration Manag 4: 193. doi:10.4172/2315-7844.1000193
· Bangladesh election commission retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Election_Commission
· Pakbir Hossain Mosharref Mir, Electoral system and democratic governance in Bangladesh, Published: Tuesday, 9 January, 2018 at 12:00 AM
· Elections in Bangladesh retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Bangladesh
· Electoral system retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system
· Electoral Governance: More Than
Just Electoral Administration retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1870057815000037
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